6.2. Interest in actively contributing to internship positions abroad

An internship is a compulsory part of
the academy profession and professional
bachelor education
programmes, and it may be an obvious
opportunity for the students to go
abroad.

It is therefore relevant to ask the enterprises
how they view internships
abroad and to what extent the enterprises
are interested in actively
contributing to the establishment of
internships abroad for students from
Denmark.

In a questionnaire survey, only 16% of
the private enterprises answer yes to
the question if the institution would
be interested in arranging internships
abroad, whereas it is the case for 25% of
the public enterprises.

Most of the interviewed enterprises
viewed internships abroad very positively,
and many believe that the
students benefit greatly from travelling
out in the world, particularly with
respect to maturity and independence.

Many enterprises express that they
would use their network and international
contacts to establish internships
abroad.

In practice, however, not many of the
interviewed enterprises participate
actively in establishing internship
positions abroad. The reasons given by
the enterprises for not participating
actively may be summarised under the
following headings:

Lack of knowledge, help, and information:
Often, the enterprises do not know
where and whom to address to
obtain information about internships
abroad. Several ask for a
central administrative organ.

Absence of calls: Several enterprises say
they have never been contacted by
educational institutions or students.

The frames are too narrow: Many enterprises
wish for greater flexibility in
the organisation of internships.

Absence of academic focus during the
internship abroad: A number of enterprises
call for a concretisation of
what the students really learn in an
internship abroad.

The students are discriminatory/small
cohorts: Many enterprises experience
that the students are discriminatory
and particular about the countries in
which they want their internship.

Absence of tradition: The majority of the
enterprises clearly express that they
do not have a tradition for establishing
internships abroad.

Table 6.1: How do the enterprises experience internationalisation?

Private sector

Increased price competition

Global economy

Increased pressure on wages

Lack of specialised work power

Larger market, new customers

Public sector

Increased documentation requirements

Demands from the citizens for
more individualised and flexible
services

Tightened requirements for formal
education (in notices of open positions
for educators etc.)

Common to both sectors

Increased professional specialisation and demand for higher educational level